


Mother Tongue

by ItsYa1UPBoy



Series: The Crow Calls (Oneshots) [1]
Category: Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan, Etrian Odyssey Series
Genre: Gen, Just bros being bros, at least he isn't apt to insult others in it, have come to expect from me, in which kirjonen learns that others can speak his native language, it's not nearly as sad as you folks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 17:54:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15370101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsYa1UPBoy/pseuds/ItsYa1UPBoy
Summary: Sometimes, the most unexpected people speak the same language as you…





	Mother Tongue

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Dialogue in《》denotes things said in Kirjonen’s native language. Dialogue in “” denotes things said in the language of Tharsis and the Empire. (English, I guess…?)
> 
> This takes place during the events of the first land. Kirjonen is 25 years old in this story. (Yeah, yeah, I know… He doesn’t look it… He’d probably get ID’ed for alcohol in Tharsis! And given that my headcanon legal age for Tharsis is 16, well…)

《Perhaps I should ask Ciaran for assistance...》

Kirjonen sighed and sat the twisted, tangled blue sail in his hands down. On his last excursion, the strong gusts in the Windy Plains had blown him around more than usual, and when he was near Tharsis, his sails had gotten tangled in the nearby foliage. Though he had returned to Tharsis safely, he wouldn’t be able to go back out until he had fixed his sails. But it was too much to manage alone…

《This is what I get for being foolish and going out despite the wind advisory. I’ve got no one to blame but myself, and I can’t go crying for help now. I need to do this on my own.》

Kirjonen kneeled back down in front of his gnarled sails and went to pick them back up when he suddenly became aware of a presence.

“Kirjonen?”

Kirjonen glanced up to see a familiar blonde Landsknecht standing casually nearby, a curious expression adorning his face.

“Greetings, Edge. Do you require any assistance?”

《No, but it seems _you_ do. I wanted to make sure that my ears weren’t deceiving me before I said anything, though...》

Kirjonen’s eyes widened in shock.

《Y-you speak my mother tongue?》he asked incredulously.

Edge nodded.

《Yeah,》he replied. 《I grew up on the southern borders, near the Asgardian Empire...》

《Is that so? I must say that your manner of speaking is impeccable.》

Edge blushed and scratched the back of his head shyly. 《I dunno about _that_. I’ve got a book accent, if anything.》

Kirjonen gave Edge a warm smile. 《Not at all,》he said kindly. 《You speak more like someone from the capital, than someone from the most rural area of the kingdom. I was simply surprised, is all.》

Edge’s face grew even redder at Kirjonen’s praise.

《Though, I must admit...》

Edge glanced back up at Kirjonen.

《I’ve never met anyone, in all my days, who speaks so properly, yet comes from the borderlands. It’s a bit strange, actually.》

The Landsknecht’s face paled. Kirjonen stared at him intently, lost in thought, perhaps in the tides of memory.

Edge seemed...familiar, somehow. Not like a childhood friend, or a brother-in-arms. He didn’t even bring any distant relatives to mind. No, he simply seemed like...someone whom he had met in passing. But Kirjonen couldn’t think of any passing faces that had particularly stuck out to him over the years…

He wracked his brain for any noteworthy meetings he’d had, over the years. Perhaps Kirjonen had met Edge when he was younger, and King Bjornstad had been travelling about and establishing and renewing his relationships with neighboring kingdoms. It was something that the king tried to do every few years, and something that the Fortress greatly admired his liege for.

Something flickered in his mind, a weak flame in the darkness of time. A blonde teenager in pitch-black armor, a wide smile on his face- a _genuine_ smile. Despite guarding the emperor of Asgard, he was perpetually cheerful, and quite excited to meet foreign dignitaries.

“ _And this is our youngest guard, a prodigy with the Drive Blade…_ ”

No, surely that couldn’t be him. Edge _acted_ cheerful, but it seemed different from that nameless young soldier’s. Something hid behind it… Something like pain, or perhaps simply deadness. 

A facade.

“ _Havardr Svensson… He will be your guide today._ ”

“ _Greetings, King Bjornstad. We are honored to have you on this fine day. And you are…?_ ”

_The smiling boy held out one hand in greeting and looked expectantly at the knight in front of him._

“ _I am Kirjonen, the lowliest of the Holy Rune Knights of King Bjornstad…_ ”

Kirjonen shook his head. How foolish. Edge bore quite a resemblance to that guardsman, but he couldn’t possibly be the same person. And yet...the ages…

《Kirjonen? Are you alright?》

Unnoticed by Kirjonen, Edge had come up onto the edge of the gondola and was staring at him with concern. Kirjonen smiled and waved his hand.

《Thank you for your concern. I was simply reminded of an old friend of mine...》

Kirjonen bowed his head and sighed.

《You look quite a bit like him, but you could not be him. That is impossible.》

A pained smile flickered across Kirjonen’s face as he remembered when the tragic news had reached King Bjornstad’s ears. Two airships, containing the emperor of Asgard and the royal guard, had departed from the southern borders a year ago and had not returned at the expected six month mark. Now, only the young prince held out hope for his father’s return. And of course, on that ship was the young man with whom Kirjonen had been exchanging letters ever since his return home.

Edge sighed and put a hand on Kirjonen’s shoulder.

《I understand your pain...》he said quietly. 《I, too, have friends who I’ll not meet again for a long, long time...》

He kneeled down beside Kirjonen and fingered the tangled, frayed sail on the floor of the gondola.

《I can do any physical labor, but Ciaran and Whirlwind know a lot more about skyships than me. I can go get them, if you like...》

《Thank you, Edge. That would be much appreciated.》

Edge stood up and turned to leave, but before he did, he glanced back over his shoulder at Kirjonen, who was still kneeled in front of his handiwork, with a sorrowful expression.

《Kirjonen, I… I don’t know if...》

His words caught in his throat and tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. He turned away from Kirjonen and shook his head.

《N-never mind. Let me go get the others.》

And with that, Edge walked away briskly, lost now in the throngs of explorers in the skyship hangar. Kirjonen stared at him as he slipped effortlessly into the crowd and sighed heavily.

《If it is indeed him...》he muttered. 《Then I think I know now what caused his smile to change.》


End file.
